My letter to Obama today on Chained CPI

This is to urge you to reject chained CPI as exactly the wrong approach for dealing with Medicare.

Medicare's problems are inadequate funding for Part B and Part D. The way to reverse this inadequate funding is to increase premiums to cover 50% of costs and let them increase at the rate of program inflation.

In order for this to work, it will require Social Security benefits to get a one-time bump followed by a COLA at the same rate - a rate much higher than the chained CPI.

This will require more revenue and a new methodology for calculating benefits. Both can be served by increasing or eliminating the income cap and switching from bend points to equal crediting of the employer contribution, including retroactive changes for current beneficiaries funded by a transfer from the general fund to mimic the effect of having a higher cap or no cap for current beneficiaries.

Its time to think like a liberal.